Instagram Chief Says AI Images Are Evolving Fast and He's Worried About Us Keeping Up

""The key risk Instagram faces is that, as the world changes more quickly, the platform fails to keep up. Looking forward to 2026, one major shift: authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible," Mosseri wrote in the post, which took the form of 20 text slides -- no images at all. (He also posted a somewhat expanded version on Threads.)"

"Mosseri said that AI is making it impossible to distinguish real photos from and that as more "savvy creators are leaning into unproduced, unflattering images," AI itself will follow with images that lean into that "raw aesthetic" as well. That will force us, he said, to change how we approach images from the jump."

""At that point we'll need to shift our focus to who says something instead of what is being said," Mosseri said. But it will take us "years to adapt" and to get away from assuming that what we see is real. "This will be uncomfortable -- we're genetically predisposed to believing our eyes." On the technical side, Mosseri predicted that makers of camera equipment will begin offering ways to cryptographically sign photos to establish a chain of ownership, proving that images aren't AI generated. He also warned that those camera makers are going the wrong direction by offering ways to help amateur photographers create polished images. "They're competing to make everyone look like a pro photographer from 2015," Mosseri said. "Flattering imagery is cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real.""

AI is making photographic authenticity increasingly reproducible, undermining the ability to trust images by sight alone. Visual credibility will need new signals, shifting emphasis from content itself to who created or endorsed it. Creators and audiences are moving toward unproduced, raw aesthetics as polished imagery becomes ubiquitous and less engaging. Camera manufacturers may add cryptographic signing to prove provenance while many currently push features that over-polish photos. Adapting to these changes will take years and require technical verification, product changes, and cultural shifts in how visual trust is surfaced and evaluated.

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